Thursday, 9 September 2010

Mini Book Reviews (well, more opinion than review)

Currently Reading:

Leap of Faith, by Queen Noor
- I just started this one, but it's intriguing so far.

Emma, by Jane Austen
- I've seen the movie and read the book before, but this time around, I really didn't like the character of Emma for most of the book! I think she's too much like me...jack of all trades, and master of none. Aka, lazy and easily distracted. She was snooty and not a very nice person. But ever since she genuinely repented of being awful to Miss Bates and Jane Fairfax, I'm starting to like her.

Robinson Crusoe, by Daniel Defoe
- Yes, this is also a classic, but I'm going to critisize it too. I like the style of writing up until Crusoe is shipwrecked. Oh, my, what repitition and redundancy. I skipped most of the journal entries. I don't need to hear about how he built his house three times in succession. I'm hoping it will improve once he runs out of ink. Overall, I like it.

Recently Read:

The Swiss Family Robinson, by Johann Wyss
- I love this book. I've read it close to ten times, I'm sure. It would never be published by today's standards, without a good half it cut out, but I love it just as it is. I have two copies of the book, and one of them is a children's library edition from the 50s, which cut out a lot, and even changed some important details. But it was fun to read anyway.

The Forgotton Garden, by Kate Morton
- I don't usually read many current bestsellers. Mostly because I'm a bit out of the loop, but also because I don't buy books often, and bestsellers are usually not in stock at the library. But his book is really good! The cross-generational story is excellently told and the book was hard to put down. I got it to read on vacation, for golfing days (I don't golf). I only have two complaints about the book. The first is that the ending seemed rushed. But that could have been just because I stopped reading with only a chapter left, then when I picked it up again, it seemed to end too quickly. Second, two little things were never resolved: Cassandra's dream about Eliza, and her convition that she had seen or held the cottage key before. Developing that little possibly-supernatural plotline would have given even more depth to the story, and turned a book that is very very good into one that is brilliant...in my opinion.

The Adventures of Kathlyn, by Harold MacGrath
- This book was published in the early 1900s, and is full of rather predjudiced language regarding non-whites. So I cannot recommend it. But as a specimin of its time, I thought it was a very well-written and interesting story. I have also read The Princess Elopes by the same author, which is a typical Ruritarian Romance so obviously a copy and possibly a mockery of The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope that the writing suffered. The Adventures of Kathlyn, writing-wise, was infinitely better.

1 comment:

I love to hear about what others are reading...whether or not it is something that would make my reading list :-) I do have The Forgotten Garden sitting on my coffee table, just waiting to be read. I think I actually bought it last year and just haven't picked it up yet. I'm glad to read that you liked it, though. I'll try to remember to come back to this post after I read it.